TurboDuo

TurboDuo

TurboDuo with gamepad
Manufacturer	NEC Home Electronics, Hudson Soft
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Fourth generation era
Release date	JP: September 21, 1991[1] NA: October 10, 1992
Lifespan	1991–1995
Introductory price	US$299.99 (equivalent to $670 in 2023)
Discontinued	WW: December 1995
Media	TurboChip, CD-ROM
CPU	HuC6280 @ 1.79 MHz or 7.16 MHz
Memory	8KB work RAM, 64KB video RAM, 192KB additional memory (System 3.0)
Display	256 × 224, 512 × 224, 512 × 240 screen resolutions. 512 available colors, 481 on-screen colors
Graphics	HuC6270 VDC, HuC6260 VCE
Sound	HuC62806, PSG audio channels
Input	Gamepad
Predecessor	TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) TurboGrafx-CD (CD-ROM² System)
Successor	PC-FX

The TurboDuo (later rebranded as simply the Duo) is a fourth-generation video game console developed by NEC Home Electronics and Hudson Soft for the North American market. The TurboDuo was test-marketed in Los Angeles in October 1992, before a nationwide rollout in May 1993.^[2] It is the North American version of the Japanese PC Engine Duo game console which was released in September 1991.

In the United States, the TurboDuo was marketed by Turbo Technologies, Inc. (or TTI) of Los Angeles, a joint venture of NEC Home Electronics and Hudson Soft. It was established to market NEC consoles in North America after NEC Home Electronics USA failed to effectively market the platform.

The TurboDuo integrates the capabilities of the TurboGrafx-16 and its CD-ROM drive (the TurboGrafx-CD) into a single, redesigned unit with an updated BIOS and 192 KB of additional RAM. TTI also offered the Super System Card via mail order, which provided the original TurboGrafx-CD with the 192 KB RAM upgrade.

The RAM increase and BIOS update afford the TurboDuo and PC Engine Duo compatibility with all CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² titles (Japanese and North American). Like the TurboGrafx-CD, the TurboDuo can read Compact Disc Digital Audio and CD+G discs. The TurboDuo, however, cannot read PC Engine HuCards without modification or an adapter. With a HuCard adapter and an Arcade Card Duo, the TurboDuo can also read Arcade CD-ROM² games (which were sold only in Japan).